


A Nostalgic Voice

by blaziken



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, M/M, mademoiselle and the oddballs help him out, shu shuts down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 14:30:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blaziken/pseuds/blaziken
Summary: It's been one week since the death of Kagehira Mika.Shu needs help to heal, and most of all, wishes he could hear Mika's voice again. The oddballs are there to help him out.--------------Filling prompt 28 for the gifting round of ESO 2019!"I want to hear your voice."





	A Nostalgic Voice

It's been one week since the death of Kagehira Mika.

Itsuki Shu has been inconsolable: his usual arrogant façade has been absolutely shattered at the loss of his partner, his lover, his best friend. For a week, he’s scarcely moved, hardly eaten, and has refused to speak to anyone. He barely remembers the wake and funeral, although he has flashes of memory of his precious friends doing most of the work helping him through it: Rei making sure he’s dressed properly, Kanata forcing him to drink more water than necessary, Wataru leading him to his seat at the front of wake, and Natsume gripping his hand tightly as silent tears fell down his cheeks, unable to tear his face away from Kagehira’s beautiful portrait.

  
The second week passes, and his friends remain heavily concerned over his entire state. They’ve managed to convince him to eat, finally, and each of them agree to take turns watching over him, staying by his side to chat about everything and nothing, hoping that the constant noise would be somewhat of a distraction for him, if only a small one. None of them were surprised when Kiryu showed up halfway through the second week, but Natsume didn’t hold back his anger at the man for taking so long to show up by his childhood friend’s side.

  
By the end of the third week, there was finally a glimmer of hope. The group were gathered in Shu’s bedroom (the only room he seemed comfortable to spend his time in), all chatting about idle nothings, when they suddenly heard a faint voice from him. The eccentrics immediately recognise it as Mademoiselle, and they all turn to her, perched elegantly on one of the dressers near them.

  
『Shu-kun is grateful to you all, his precious friends. He's not ready to speak to you yet, but I know his feelings the best. He needs time to heal. He deeply misses Mika-chan, but the distractions you all are providing are helping. Thank you all for being here looking after him.』

  
None of them are surprised by the sudden reappearance of Mademoiselle, even after so long of her being dormant. It was Shu’s trauma in the beginning that caused her to awaken, and now she was here to help him through the very worst.

It was Natsume who spoke first to answer her, “Mademoiselle-chAN, we will always be here for Shu-niisAN. Is there more we could be doing to heLP?”

  
『You’re a good boy, Natsume-chan. Just being here for him is enough at the moment. Shu-kun is tired now, but we will be happy to see any of you again tomorrow~』

  
They all agree to leave Shu for the rest of the evening, all feeling slightly better that at least he now had Mademoiselle to keep him company. They bid their farewells, this time to both Shu and Mademoiselle.

  
A moment later, Mademoiselle spoke up. 『Shu-kun, what is it you really want?』

For the first time in weeks, Shu finally speaks. _“I want to hear his voice.”_

Unbeknownst to Shu, Rei had hung back, a sad smile ghosting his face as he heard his friend’s answer to his companion. Whatever caused Rei to hang back from the rest of the eccentrics was lost, and as he made his way out of Shu’s home, and idea began to form in his mind.

  
There’s silence in Shu’s room for the rest of the day.

* * *

The next few weeks pass with big improvements from Shu. Soon after Mademoiselle appeared, Shu was beginning to be drawn out of his shell of grief: sometimes only for a few moments to answer a question, occasionally up to a few hours, and when he scolds Wataru once for touching Mademoiselle carelessly, it causes his group of friends to break out into blinding smiles.

  
“W-what are those looks for? I didn’t think Wataru was so vulgar as to touch Mademoiselle in such a way, so of course I would have something to say bout it.”

  
『Shu-kun, I think they’re simply glad you’re acting more like yourself ♪』

  
“Hmph! If it takes Wataru to touch you without my permission then perhaps it’s better if I didn’t!”

  
“puka puka… ♪ this version of shu is my “favourite”. I am glad you feel more “yourself”. can we show him the “video” now, Rei?… ♪”

  
Rei lets out a sigh at his friend and reaches into his jacket to pull out a USB stick. “Ah the younger generation have no patience. It’s hard for an old man like me to keep up with you all. But I am bad with modern technology, Sakasaki-kun, if I could please rely on you to work this I’d be very grateful.”

  
As Natsume stands to fiddle with the memory stick in the back of Shu’s TV, Shu squints suspiciously at the rest of his friends as they relocate him to the sofa, and each pile either side of him, allowing a small space for Natsume at the end. “What are you all planning?”

  
“It’s better if you sit and watch, Shu-niisAN.” Natsume takes his place on the sofa, making the five of them thoroughly crushed together.  
The video starts, and Shu’s hands immediately clamp to his mouth.

 _“Nnah, why’d ya put the camera in my face, Naru-chan? Y’know ‘m not good with this sorta stuff.”_  
_“It’s because you’re so cute, Mika-chan, I want to make sure I have a lot of memories with you I can look back on~♪”_  
_“I guess if ya put it like that, Naru-chan, I can’t say no to ya~”_

Shu was choking back a sob, his eyes transfixed on the video in front of him. “Wh-what is this?” was all he could manage before another sob escaped his chest.  
“rei said you wanted to hear mii-san’s “voice” again, so we collected these “videos” of him from everyone for you.”

  
The four of them shift even closer to him as his tears flow openly. The video goes on to show Mika with various of their old classmates, along with footage from interviews they did as Valkyrie, clips from backstage at lives they performed, and any other small clips of him they could find.

  
By the end of the video, aside from the uncontrollable flow of tears, Shu’s heart was overcome with love and grief, and as his friends leaned into him, he was reminded of the comfort their presence truly brought to him. He managed to calm himself down slowly, the tears were still flowing but he manages to slow his breathing, enough at least that he’s able to address his friends.

  
“Thank you everyone for this gift. Kagehira… Kagehira is gone, but the lives he’s touched and the hearts he’s healed are still here.”  
He grips tightly at his shirt above where his heart is, and draws in a few deep breaths to steady himself again.

  
“I’m still here.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry this was so awful and angst filled, but this was the first thing that came to my mind for this prompt and I just had to write it. It actually took a little bit of a different turn than I originally intended, but the original one was even worse so at least this one was somewhat nice at the end. Please don't hate me! I also messed around in present tense for this but apparently I'm bad at it, so please let me know if there's any mistakes!  
> Find me on twitter @clothhwaltz!


End file.
